Congo's Cobalt. Congo's Dirty Mining Secret.

We'll All Be Relying on Congo to Power Our Electric Cars

The cars of the future will depend increasingly upon supplies of an obscure metal from a country in the African tropics where there has never been a peaceful transition of power and child labor is still used in parts of the mining industry.

 From article, (The country formerly known as Zaire -- which hosted boxers Muhammad Ali and George Foreman for their 1974 heavyweight title bout dubbed the “Rumble in the Jungle” -- supplies 63 percent of the world’s cobalt. Congo’s market share may jump to 73 percent by 2025 as producers like Glencore Plc expand mines, according to Wood Mackenzie Ltd. By 2030, global demand could be 47 times more than it was last year, Bloomberg New Energy Finance estimates.

Cobalt is a byproduct of copper and nickel mining. Until recently, there were often surplus supplies as it was used mostly to harden steel. But the bluish-gray metal’s ability to efficiently conduct electricity has made it essential for high-end rechargeable batteries. A typical power unit in an electric car contains about 15 kilograms (33 pounds) of cobalt, though some varieties use less than 5 kilograms.

Read more about what’s driving battery demand and materials by clicking here.

Over the next two decades, the global fleet of electric vehicles may reach 282 million, or about 16 percent of all cars on the road, BNEF analysts estimate.

Tesla Inc. has more than doubled vehicle unit sales since 2014, and is targeting 500,000 for next year. Volkswagen AG plans to invest 20 billion euros ($24 billion) by 2030 to roll out electric vehicles, with another 50 billion euros earmarked for batteries.Volvo Car AB says it will have five electric models in its lineup by 2021, while Daimler AG, the owner of Mercedes-Benz, is investing $1 billion to ramp up electric-vehicle production in the U.S.

With demand growing, mining companies including Glencore, Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. and China Molybdenum Co. are pouring more money into the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has by far the most proven reserves.

Of further concern to automakers is that some Congolese cobalt comes from informal mines that Amnesty International alleges may rely on child labor. Artisanal mining is legal in Congo but poorly regulated. In 2014, the government estimated as much as 14,000 tons of its cobalt exports, or 20 percent, came from these informal diggers. By last year, that share fell to 8,600 tons, according to Darton, as the government cracked down on illegal mines and technology companies including Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. came under public pressure to more fully vet their supply chains.
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Still, it remains difficult for battery makers to know where their cobalt comes from.)

Me, "Child labor Is a problem in mining Colbalt, but with more investment in Congo's cobalt suppliers, to produce more product, it may become easier to at least have inspectors reporting where the Cobalt going into car makers batteries comes from. A premium could be offered for non-child labor Colbalt."

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